George Bradley McFarland family papers, circa 1862-1964,, bulk bulk 1880-1951

Summary

Creators:

McFarland, George Bradley, 1866-1942 McFarland, Bertha Blount

Abstract:

Contains correspondence, notebooks, scrapbooks, writings, photographs, and books relating to missionaries in Siam (now Thailand) and Cambodia. Photographs include pictures of life in Thailand and Cambodia, including Angkor Wat; of the royal family, including the coronations of King Vajiravudh and King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the funeral of King Chulalongkorn; and of missions in Thailand. Also includes the American Civil War diary of James Gooding Blount.

Extent:

Number of containers: 7 boxes and 2 volumes Linear feet: 3.25

Language:

Collection materials are in English, Thai and Cambodian

Background

Scope and content:

The George Bradley McFarland Family Papers contain correspondence, notebooks, scrapbooks, writings, photographs, and books relating to missionaries in Siam (now Thailand) and Cambodia. Photographs include pictures of life in Thailand and Cambodia, including Angkor Wat; of the royal family, including the coronations of King Vajiravudh and King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the funeral of King Chulalongkorn; and of missions in Thailand. Also includes the American Civil War diary of James Gooding Blount.

Biographical / historical:

George Bradley McFarland was born in 1866 to Rev. Samuel Gamble McFarland and Jane Hays McFarland while they were serving as missionaries in Siam (now Thailand). Except for a few years spent in the United States to obtain medical and dental degrees, George McFarland lived most of his life in Siam. After his first wife Mary Root McFarland died in 1923, he married missionary Bertha Blount in 1925.

The McFarland family contributed many things to their adopted land of Siam. Samuel Gamble McFarland not only worked as a missionary but also published one of the first Siamese-English dictionaries, which his son George revised after his father's death. Jane Hays McFarland ran one of the first schools for girls in Thailand and later had a school named in her honor. William Hays McFarland, George's brother, served as Siam's Ministry of War and introduced Western military methods to Siam. Edwin McFarland, another brother, also served in the Siamese government and developed the first Siamese typewriter. George McFarland not only expanded on the work of his parents and siblings after their deaths, but also taught at the Royal Medical College and translated many medical texts into Siamese.

George McFarland died in 1942. At some point his wife Bertha returned to the United States, where she continued contact with the Missions in Thailand.

-McFarland, George B. Reminiscences of Twelve Decades of Service to Siam 1860-1936. [Bangkok]: Bangkok Times Press, 1936.

Acquisition information:

The George Bradley McFarland family papers, were given to the South/Southeast Asia Library by Bertha Blount Hallquist, niece of Bertha Blount McFarland, in 1976. The collection was transferred to The Bancroft Library in 2003.

Arrangement:

Arranged to the folder level.

Physical location:

Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

Website